1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for inputting medical data and, more particularly, to systems and methods for automatically inputting medical information into a target system.
2. Description of the Background
During a doctor visit or a hospital stay, patients are oftentimes required to leave a sample of urine, blood, stool, or other biological samples for analysis. In addition, in outpatient or inpatient scenarios, caregivers, such as doctors, nurses, or other healthcare professionals, may collect tissue, fluid, a foreign body, a tumor, or other pathology specimen(s) for analysis. Whether a biological or a pathology specimen is collected, specific procedures must be followed to properly track the specimen as belonging to a particular patient. Many current systems for tracking specimens are time consuming and error-prone.
A prior art manual system 20 for tracking or inputting data relating to specimens is depicted in FIG. 1. In the system 20, one or more labels 53 (see FIG. 6) are printed out (at block 22), at a bed of a patient, in a doctor's office, in an in-home setting, at a nursing station, in a hospital laboratory, or in any other medical facility or location. The label(s) 53 is printed with a linear barcode representing a unique identifier for that specimen and the label(s) 53 is placed on a container for holding the specimen. The unique identifier, which is embodied in a linear barcode, is utilized for identification and tracking purposes as the specimen proceeds through collection, receiving, and resulting processes. A caregiver collects the specimen in the form of blood, urine, stool, swap, or other biological or pathology specimen at block 24. The caregiver writes missing data on the label at block 26, which is indicated by reference numeral 64 in FIG. 6, wherein the missing data may include a collection date, a collection time, a collector identifier for identifying the person who collected the specimen, a unique blood bank identifier, patient demographic data, and/or written notes that a nurse, phlebotomist, or other caregiver may write or print on the label.
Still referring to FIG. 1, when a container holding a specimen is received in the laboratory, a medical professional scans the linear barcode representing the unique identifier or accession number to identify the specimen in the system at block 28. Subsequent to scanning of the linear barcode, laboratories generally manually enter data that was physically written on the label(s) 53, as indicated by reference numeral 64, during the collection phase of block 26.
One label 53 created by the manual system 20 of FIG. 1 is depicted in FIG. 6. The label 53 includes type-written data 60, which may be for example, patient demographic data, such as a date of birth, a first name, a middle name, a last name, directions, and any other data. The label 53 may also include handwritten data 64 if further processing is required that includes notes not supported by the laboratory or pathology information system that generates the label 53. The label 53 further includes a linear barcode 62, as discussed above, that includes an encoded unique identifier or accession number. The label 53 contains the accession number, container identifier, or barcode number, which is used as a primary identifier for tracking and processing purposes in later laboratory or pathology analysis and reporting.
A further prior art electronic system 50, as seen in FIG. 2, utilizes an electronic transfer of data over a network to replace the step of manually entering data described above with respect to FIG. 1. In the electronic system 50, a caregiver collects blood, urine, stool, swap, or other biological or pathology specimen at block 52. The caregiver then prints a label 21 (see FIG. 5) for that specimen at block 54, wherein the label 21 includes type-written data 30 and a linear barcode 32 representing a unique identifier or accession number to uniquely identify that specimen. Once the barcode is scanned by a target system, for example a laboratory information system, pathology information system, electronic health record, or other healthcare system, and the unique identifier or accession number of the linear barcode 32 is recognized, the target system communicates at block 56 via a TCP/IP network connection utilizing the HL7 protocol with the electronic system 50 to communicate HL7 data over the network to update or input into the target system. The HL7 data contains, for example, the collection time, the collection date, and the collector identifier. At block 58, the target system automatically inputs the collection date, the collection time, and the collector identifier using the information electronically transferred from the electronic system 50.
While the prior art systems function in their intended manner, such prior art systems also have their drawbacks. For example, the manual entry of the manual system 20 is error-prone and time consuming. In addition, in relation to the electronic system 50, the target systems must be configured to send and receive information from the electronic system 50, which is not always the case. In some situations, there is no network interface available to the target system or it is cost-prohibitive to utilize an available network interface and, therefore, the manual system 20 must be utilized.